Machine for unhairing fur-skins.



F. M. WEGNERI MACHINE FOR UNI-IAIRING FUR SKINS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I4. I917 v Paten. Oct. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- F. M. WEGNER. MACHINE FOR UNHAIRING FUR SKINS. I APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, I911- Patented Oct. 9,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. M. WEGNER.

MACHINE FOR UNHAIRING FUR SKINS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, I917.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

an mu d M Wqqn er.

. Frdz'han 1g Hts Gimme U ITED STATES iPATENToFFICEf FERDINAND M. wnenna, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MACHINE r03 nNHAmmGTrUa-smns.

Specification of Letters Patent. f Patented Oct, 9, 191?,

Application filedFebruary 14.1917. Serial No. 148L657.

To all whom it may concern." 3

Be it known that I, FERDINAND M. WEG- NER, a'citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county ofdKings and Stateof' New York,have inyen'ted a new and useful Machine'for Unhairing Fur-Skins, of which the following is agspecification.

My invention relates to ii'nprovem'ents' in a machine for unhairing fur skins and it consists in the novel features hereinafter more'fully' described.

The objects of my improvement-are:

First, to produce a'machine for unhairing fur skins, having amore perfect action and embodying thesun dry features of excellence hereinafter described. i i

' Second, to have said machine, with said improvements embodied therein, as simple and inexpensive as possibleu v v f attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the drawings or by any mechanical equivalent or obvious modification ofthe same. In the drawings Figure is a vertical section of my machine asjviewed from the left side thereof, the section being in a plane flush with the conveyor for the fur skins, V

and leaving out sundry'unessentialv details, such as fastenings; Fig. 2 is view of the mechanism, which actuates the-camsfif hereinafter more fully described, also showing the transmission gearing for the brushes. Fig. 3 is a vertical section-and .Figfa front elevation, on 'a larger scale, of the bridge 32, the parallelbars'38 andth'eshield plates 89, hereinafter more fullydescribed.

Similar numerals and letters refer to similar parts throughout the V'iews of the drawings.

11 designates the frame of the machine, to whichis secured the stationary vertical bridge 32, over which the fur skin is made to pass by means of the conveyer 33, which is in contact with therollers 34, 35, 36 an l 37,carried by the shafts or spindle's15, 16% 14: and 16respectively. I p Said bridge 82 is made'vertical for the purpose of rendering the operation of clipping the coarse hair of the fur skins vlsible to the operator, who is thereby'enabled to have. more perfect and "ready supervision of the said operation. v r v g In front of said bridgeg32 the rotarybrush 29 is supported at each end thereof" by a bracket 31, which is securedto said'frame 11.

Saidbrush 29"is rotating on its axisin .a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig.1,'and it receives itsfmotion-from -a gear'wheel 75 secured to the roller of said brush 2?"; said gear wheel/75 isindicated by its pltch l1ne, and it is shown in Fig. 2

as meshing with the gear wheel 14,511 ported in position by the stud or pin 30, whi-chcarries also the sprocket 72, which 1s operatively. connected to thesprocket 71 by means of the chain73;'ql 1 p All ear wheelsa'nd' sprockets are indicatedby their pitchv lines 'i vthe drawings,

and the chains by dott d n Said sprocketf'll' is'shown in Fig.2 as

secured to the power shaft 12, which is shown in Fig- 1 as supported in position v by the'bearings 12 and'which carriesalso the belt pulley 66 and the sprockets 66 and69. i f belt pulley. 6631s adapted 'to receive the motionfrom a suitable motor reywheel by means of a belt, whichis not'showvn in the drawings. V f I I The pitch line of said sprocket "69' coincides with the-hubof the bearing "12 in Said sprocket 66. is connected by;'means of thechain'67 to. thei sprocket 65,'which is secured to thej'mai'n driving shaft 13 which is journaled in said frame 11, and which carries also the camQl, shown in Land the disk 82, whichis hereinafter described; Said cam 21 actuatesthe lever, 22, which is pivotally connected to said frame 11 by means of the pin17, and which carries the c'amroller'23' in contact with'said'cam' 21. V Said lever 22 is shown in 1 assup porting at its outer end the revolving and rocking'spindle 18, which carries the sprockets 68 and/76. v

Said sprocket 68 is operatively connected mend sprocket 69; by means 'offthel chain 7 0, and it revolves said spindle 18 in a clockwise direction, asshown by the arrows Said sprocket 7 dis operatively connected to the sprocket77 by means ofth'e chain '78.. I Said sprocket 77 is'carried by-astud or pin 87, and it rotates the'gear wheel 79, which is supported by the same pin 87, which maybe securedto said sprocket 77 inany suitable, manner. Said gear wheel 79 is shown in Fig. 2 as transmitting itsmotion to the gear wheel 81 by means of th'e intermediate gear wheel 80, which is in mesh with both gear wheels 79 and 81 and is carried by the stud or pin 88.

Said gear wheel 81 is secured to the roller of the rear brush 28, which revolves there with in a clockwise directionas shown in Fig. 2.

- Said rear brush 28 is pivotally supported" rear brush 2S, themotion of which is also compounded with that of the pair of links 63, one of which is shown in Fig. l as pivotally connected at one end thereof to the bracket 64', which is rigidly secured 1.0 the frame 11, by means of the pin 68?, and at the other end to one of the extensions 25 of said arms 24, by'means of the pin 63",

The said links 63 cause said rear brush 28 to be brought at a certain point of itscycle of motion, toward the upper edge of said bridge 32, as is hereinafter more fully described. I t r The'brushes 2'9and 28 are shown in Fig. 2 withoutbristle, for the sake of elearness.

The front brush 29 brushes the fur of the skin in the direction of its natural inclination, which is downwardly on the front side of the bridge 32; the rear brush28 is brushing the fur of the skin against its natural inclination, and the reciprocating motion is imparted to'it for the purpose of permitting the periodical acti0n of the knives 41 and 42, hereinafter 'morefully described. V i, i

The action of the rear brush 28 is supplemented by the horizontal combing bar 39, which is carried by a pair of oscillating arms 40 at the upper ends thereof.

Said arms 40 are pivotally connected at their lower ends to said arms 24, and their motion is modified by a pair of links 60, which are pivotally connected, each at one end thereof, to the frame 11, by means of the pin 61, and, at the other end, to one of said arms 40 by means of the pin 62.

Theobject of both therear brush 28 and the combing bar 39 is to keep the soft fur frombeing clipped while the stiff hairs of the skin, resisting the action of both the rear brush and the combing bar, is protruding upward, and is clipped off.

[The clipping is accomplished by the hori- Zontal blade or knife 41 and the horizontally moving inclined blade 42, which are carried by the horizontal slide bars 48 and 46' respectively; said slide bars 48 and 46 terminate at each end in the sockets 49 and respectively, which'sockets are adapted to slide on a pair of guide bars 51, which are supported at their ends by the bosses 52.

Said slide bars 48 and 46 have each on the underside, near each end thereof, the pair of lugs 50 and 47 respectively, which lugs 50 and 47 are pivotally connected to the oscillating arms 53 and 58. respectively by means of the pins 58 and 59 respectively.

Said blade 41 is secured directly to the underside of the slide bar 48 thereby lea* ing a maximum of room for said front brush 29, and the motion imparted to it by the arm 58 is so timed that said blade 41 is pausing flaring the operation ofthe clipping of the air, c This is accomplished by means oftheslot 55 in each of a pair of oscillatingmembers 54, which slot 55, is engaging the pin 55 on each of said arms 53, thereby oscillating the same; said slot 55 is shown in Fig. 1 as consisting of an arc of acircle at its upper part and concentric with. said spindle 16 for about one-fifth of itslength, and spiral shaped or cam shapedfor the rest ofits length at the middle and lower partsthereof; the circular part of the slot'55 passes the pin 55? without moving itin eithrdireo tion, thereby causing the arm 58vandblade 41 to pause or rest; the spiral shaped part ofsaid slot 55 moves said pin 55, thereby also moving said arm 53 and blade 41.

Each of said oscillating members 54 is secured to said spindle 16, and an oscillating motion is imparted to said spindle 16 by means of the arm 85 and connecting rod. 84, shown in Fig. 2 as pivotally connected at its upper end to said arm 85 by means of the pin 86, and at its lower end to the disk 82 by means of the pin 83; said disk 82 is secured to the main driving shaft 13, as

hereinbeforedescribed. l

The conveyer roller 37, above described, is revolving on said spindle .16, l r H Said oscillating members 54 have each an integral extension or short arm 56, for trans mitting the oscillation to, each of said arms 53 by means of links 57, which are piyotally connected to said arms 56 and said arms53 by means of the pins 57 and 57 respectively. i Q Said arms 53 are imparting to the slide bar 46 a motion, which has a greater amplitude than that imparted to theslide bar48 by the arm 53, andtheblade'42, carried by said slide bar 46, does not pause during the operation of clippingl' i Said blade 42 is not directly 'securedto said slide bar 46, but tothe cross-bar 43, which has horizontal elements parallel to the slide bar 46, but the cross-section of which is shown in Fig. 1 as inclined at an angle of about fifteen degrees from a vertislide bar 46 near the ends thereof.

This construction having; said blade 42 nearly vertical allows the blade 42 to be secured in: position more neatly than :when both blades arehorizontal; and'the pivotal connection of said ears 43*" to said lugs 44 permits the more easy disengagement of said blade 42 from saidblade'4l during the Separating p a f the mouen of Sai blades 41 and 42. r i

. To protect'thesoft fur on the sides of the skin I employ certain :brass shield plates,

and Iprovide the pail-of parallel bars "38' to receive the'said' shield plates 89, shown in Figs. 3 and .4,therebetween, and to which said" shield plates may be fastened by' "set screws 90 adapted to fit through openings in one of said bars 38, as shown in Figs. 3'

and '4.

The shield plates themselves may be of any standard or special shape.

The operation of my machine for unhairing fur skins is as follows:

A fur skin is fastened on to the conveyer 33 above and to the left of the roller 36, with its hair naturally inclined toward the right; the conveyer is slowly fed forward, in the direction shown by the arrows, by a feed mechanism of any standard construction, not shown inthe drawings; the fur skin is passed under the roller 37 and up the bridge 32. p

While assing over the sharp crest of said bridge, the rear brush 28 is brought over said bridge 32, and it brushes the hair in a direction contrary to that of its natural inclination, the stiff hair resist this action of said brush 28, and they protrude upwardly in a nearly vertical direction above the crest of said bridge; the rear brush 28 is then lowered by the mechanism, which actuates it, and the combing bar 39 is then brought into action to keep down the soft hair released by said brush 28;

the knives 41 and 42 are then brought into action, shearing off the coarse hair therebetween; the knives then separate while the fur-skin is fed forward a short distance, the combing bar 39 is brought out of the way of the rear brush 28, which rises again to the crest of the bridge, and the operation of cutting the coarse hair is repeated for the adjacent short space on the fur skin;,

the front brush 29 is acting continually in the same position.

The rear brush 28 is acting intermittently. The two knives 41 and 42 are moving both horizontally, the motion of the rear knife 42 having a greater amplitude, to

t'he'knives.

allow'said rear brush 28 to'reach above the bridge 32 before each cutting stroke of Many changes'coul'd bemadein'the design within the scopeof my invention.- Y

of the details of my fur unhairing machine I do not, therefore, restrict myself to-the design of the details of my-" m'achine as obviousmodifications of the s'ame'.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 111: In a machine for unhairingfur skins the combination of a conveyerfor theskins,

abridge, a horizontallymoving front knife, horizontally, movingrear knife and; a means for actuating-said knives, said means being adapted to move said knivesinbppo- "site directions andisaid m'eans including a member adapted to act intermittently, thereby 1 allowing said; front "knife "to1*- lfavea period of rest during the operation of clipping the hair of the skins.

2. In a machine for unhairing fur skins the combination of a conveyer for the skins,

.shown by'the drawings,'but"l intendto in-' I clude also all -mechani cal=equivalents and '75 a stationary vertical bridge for said conveyer to pass over, a revolving front brush,

, a revolving and rocking rear brush, a horizontally moving front knife, a horizontally moving rear knife andmeans for actuating said knives, said means being adapted to move said knives Y in opposite directions, said means including a member adapted to act intermittently, thereby allowing said front knife a period of rest during the operation of clipping the hair from the skins and said means being adapted to give to saidrear knife an amplitude of motion to a suitable carrier, and said rear knife being secured to a crossbar which is pivotally connected to another carrier, by means of ears, near the ends and at the rear of said cross bar, and suitable lugs on said other carrier, said rear knife thereby being adapted to be readily disengaged from said front knife during the phase of the separating motion of said knives.

4. In a machine for unhairing fur skins the combination of a conveyer for the skins, a bridge for said conveyer to pass .over, a front knife, a rear knife and a means for actuating said knives, said means being adapted to move said knives in opposite directions, said front knife being secured to a, suitable carrier, and said rear knife belngpivotally connected to another carr er and 1n a posltlon at an angle to said front knife, thereby .facilitating'the securing of said rear knife 1n the proper posltlon relatively to said front knife.

5. In a mach'inefor unhairing fur skins the combination of a conveyer for the skins, a bridge, a front knife, a rear knife, and a means for actuating said knives, said means being adapted to move said knives in opposite directions, and said means including an oscillating arm for moving said front knife, a pin on said arm, and an oscillating member having a slot in engagement with said pin, thereby impelling said arm, said slot during part of its outline consisting of an arc of a circle concentric with the pin of said oscillating member, and of a curved part eccentrical to said pin during the rest of its out-' front knife to have a period of rest fduring the operation of clippingthe hair of the fur skins.

6. In a machine for unhairing. fur skins the combination of a conveyer. for sald sklns,

a bridge for said conveyer to passv over,"a"

pair of oppositely. moving knives for clipping the coarse hair of said skins, a shield plate forprotecting the fur, on the edges of the skin and a means forachustably. holding sa1d plate inposition, said meansconr prising two parallel bars horizontally placed, side by side to each'other, leaving a space for said plate therebetween, and-a means for keeping, said plate in position. I

FERDINAND M. WVEGNER.

Gop fies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressingthe Gommissionpof,Patents,

' Washington, D. G. r 

